Last week, the New York Times ran a series of twelve op-ed pieces under the larger heading: “What is School For?” There are fascinating articles throughout the series—on topics ranging from “Making Citizens” and “Connecting to Nature” to more provocative pieces like “Wasting Time” and “Merit.” I recommend reading through them when you have the time and, while the focus is largely on public schools, many of the topics resonate with conversations on our campus and in the larger community of independent schools (all of our students and staffulty have access to a free New York Times subscription, which is a great resource for our community). 

One of the opinion pieces features a photojournalism series by students at Oakland’s Fremont High School. They answered the overarching question of “What is School For?” by documenting and simply stating: “School is for Us.” Their overall perspective is that, for students, school is about so much more than just academics and classroom learning. In fact, they describe how important it is to be together with their peers each day, that being at school is an opportunity to be social, cultivate friendships, and that school is a place to express themselves and to experience what it means to be part of a community. 

Their commentary on school life and their portrait of a student-centered school experience certainly resonates with Sonoma Academy and our firm belief that our school is designed for our students. And that was a resounding theme in my interactions with many parents last night at Back to School Night. Many of the conversations last night focused on what a positive impact SA has had on our students. It makes us all incredibly proud of our program and the culture of our school that these reflections included phrases like: “my child has never been so excited about school”; “my kid has never been so happy”; “there is so much talk about school at our house at night”; and, of course, “I wish I could come back tomorrow.”

At SA, we talk frequently and openly about what it means to be a member of our connected community, and we intentionally focus on the cultivation of that mindset. And that comes in many forms, ranging from our community determining how to respond when plates or glasses are dropped at lunch (the sophomore class has launched a survey to help the community decide whether clapping is a supportive gesture or a shaming one, and what is the best way for our student body to handle this fact of life) to listening to Moments of Reflection at Wednesday’s Community Meeting about how being part of a community means repairing harms done and allowing each other the space to be human and make mistakes. 

Our school is clearly rooted in learning. A central tenet of school life and an SA education is dedicated to acquiring the critical thinking skills, diverse knowledge base, and empathetic ability to reflect on the world and place in it. As a result, our students become active, informed, and deeply thoughtful leaders of our broader society. 

But another, equally important, tenant for us is that education is rooted in humanity. And high school occurs at the most important moment of human development. The teenage years represent a critical period of brain and social development—where our students' fullest capacities as human beings are coming into existence and where support for them in their entire personhood is paramount to their long-term capacity to thrive.

Our entire educational system has undergone profound challenges, and just about everyone seems to have an opinion about what school should and shouldn’t be for our students. We think that asking the overarching question—“What is School For?”—and being able to answer it with clarity and intention is crucial to our society’s trajectory.  As we embark on a year of strategic planning, we will invite everyone to join us in exploring this and other big ideas as we look ahead to the next decade of Sonoma Academy.